Amazing Painted Floors: A How-to

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Long, long ago (in September) I started plotting how to get beautiful floors for not much money. I was fed up with my nasty, stained carpet but didn’t have the money for the hardwood floors I was dreaming of. So I decided I was going to paint the plywood subfloor in my living and dining rooms. Many months later, I am finally done!

I think I’m kind of in love with these floors.

This was not a quick or easy project but it was sooo worth the effort. I should add here that this project does not have to take months to complete – I had lots of delays with the holidays and general busyness.

Here is a quick run-down of how I did it.

1. Rip out old carpet and carpet padding. Remove all tack strips and staples from subfloor.

2. Patch the seams and staple holes. (This is the only part I really wasn’t pleased with. I used Flexible Floor Patch and Leveler. This was not the right choice. It is good because it flexes with the floor and all that stuff. But it is horrible because you can’t sand it smooth). *Update – I found a great product for patching the subfloor – check it out in this post.*

3. Sand the floor. We just used a small palm sander but of course a large floor sander would work much faster. Just remember that this is plywood – it is not going to be silky smooth.

oh my goodness. I am in LOVE with your floors. You did SUCH an amazing job—-I have never seen anything quite like this on a floor and now I don’t know if I will be able to stop thinking about it! SO SO cool!!!!Jaime

Im actually shocked at the final result! WOW… it’s lovely. So much effort and vision. How on earth do you know what to ‘do’ with the floor (sanding, priming, coating etc) You are one clever savvy lady. Im in awe actually.Jennie. x

I am so glad I did! My landlord has given me permission to yank out the smelly old carpet. We had hoped that there was hardwood under since the house was built in 1901 and there is hardwood in the hall but Sadly it is just a plywood sub floor. Today I was rather despondent over that fact. Tonight I am elated! My living room is not that large but this would allow me to get rid of the nasty carpet, create something beautiful, which I love doing, and not cost me an arm & leg.

Crystal, this response is too late for you, but someone else may benefit. My husband and I did one built in 1904. (Everyone who has ever renovated an “old lady” says these words nearly every day: What were they thinking? Why?) The entire house had hardwood floors, except for the tile in the bathrooms, which were in a 1940 addition. There was REAL lino in the kitchen using coal tar as the adhesive OVER the hardwood. That was BAD. But even worse, in the foyer they had installed 3/4″ plywood subfloor OVER the hardwood using ring shank nails. When you pulled them out, they left quarter sized holes in the hardwood. Point is, look under the subfloor if you have reason to think there is hardwood there, like the house was built in 1901. My question, if anyone is still reading this thread, is how do you prep if your subfloor is OSB and not plywood? And like everyone else, I’m totally impressed with the paint job.

Wow, this is absolutely amazing! You started a revolution of how to get around expensive floors! I can’t believe those are stenciled plywood. It is absolutely gorgeous. I would be way in love if those floors were in my home! Visiting from AD2D

As a long time floor painter ( I painted my first floors over 25 years ago–and have done it in every single house since then) I want to add a couple tips: I had the very best luck when I finally quit adding floor leveler. Just get the biggest baddest floor sander you can, and get it flat with that. Trust me. anything that goes thinly over the floor will ultimately chip away with heavy furniture placed over it. Don’t be afraid to wash the wood well…just let it dry completely before you paint. Also, had the best luck with ‘marine epoxy’ (boat paint) from any high-end paint store because it goes on and stays on…but it only comes in high gloss, a look I happen to love. Good luck!

You have absolutely “FLOORED” us all with your awesome, beautiful paisley floor!!! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE JOB YOU BOTH HAVE DONE–YOU DESERVE NOT ONLY TO CELEBRATE BUT TO BE “CELEBRATED” BY ALL OF US–YOUR ADMIRERS!

I can not believe how fantastic this looks! Your colors are beautiful, the pattern is perfect and it does not look like plywood in the least. WOW! I would love if you linked up to my party I host on Fridays!

GORGEOUS, stunning and amazing! I want to run downstairs and rip out my family room carpet right now. I’m going to have to talk my hubby into this. I’m putting your gorgeous floor in the PoPP Spotlight. Thanks for linking up.

It’s gorgeous! I have several painted floors in my house. Even though I originally did it years ago because it was cheap (that was 3 houses ago) I have them now because I love them! I change my bathroom floor fairly often. A whole new floor for the price of a can of paint and a little labor. You can’t beat that! Yours turned out just beautiful! Great job. Lisa~

Your floors are gorgeous!! I have an office floor I painted aqua, but every chunk (literally) out of the plywood shows and catches dirt. Now I think I’ll try your amazing method! I’m not sure a sander would get rid of the problem on my floor, but maybe the leveler…it’s only an office…I’ll let you know how it comes out. (And become a follower! :)

What a great idea! It’s gorgeous! We lived with plywood floors for several years while renovating. Wish I’d seen this then! I landed on the Cutting Edge website a few days ago, and love their landscape mural kit. I think there’s one in my future!

My best friend and I have been contemplating this in our town homes. We’ve never come across someone who had an explanation of how and a show stopping finish like yours did. I am INSPIRED!!! Thanks for all sharing all your hard work.

oHHH my GOSH! these are totally Fabulous!! I have a guest room that i ripped the ugly carpet up and now am left with even ugly plywood floors i never thought it would look so pretty painted~ im so gonna do this! i love everything about yours hope ya dont mind im gonna have to copy it! :) THANK YOU!!!

You’ve done everything right and ended up with a beautiful result. Taping off and putting a border on the edges was the perfect solution to prevent having to stencil along the walls. Also smart to use two colors that are just a shade or two off. It prevents a busy pattern from getting too loud.

Love, love, LOVE these floors! I’m getting ready to pull up old linoleum that was under carpet in a den. There’s hardwood underneath, but I’m not sure what shape it’s in. I may just have to follow your lead! I’m definitely going to follow your blog. :)-Revi

Saw your feature on Whisperwood Cottage! The floors are beautiful and way more interesting and unique than hardwood floors. We pulled out the carpet and painted our concrete subfloor which turned out well but the stencil idea is genius. Your patience and idea certainly paid off in a big beautiful way!

I just love what you did. I am saving my money in hopes to tear up my nasty carpet and do this to my floors. Problem is, my floors are a concrete slab, that had at one time, Terrazzo all over floors. But and this is the kicker….. previous owners put junk linoleum tiles over it and that awful, black glue/cement stuff. UGH. I already tore up the carpet in my office and hallway…. huge mess. I popped up the paint splattered tiles and now what the heck to do with that black cement? So very scared to take up the carpet in my bedroom and living room now…. it is a mess. HELP?

Also, I was curious as to what you were going to use to finish your baseboards? All new or add quarter round?

I just became your follower. I myself have done so many house renovations. The work and man hours put into this floor must have been a true labour of love. You got my vote as soon as I saw the first picture.

I got here from An Urban Cottage too. My teenage daughter was asking me why we couldn’t do this to our sub floors just last week. My fear was the seams and nails. Yours is so lovely I would be happy with just a black painted floor.Did you ever discover what the right product is for those seams?

Are. You. Kidding Me???? Holy wow. Unbelieveable. Gorgeous. Insanely beautiful. Have never seen anything so beautifully done as a painted floor!!!!! I just found you through An Urban Cottage and I am so blown away I am sending this link to all my DIY buddies. Really, I just can’t get over it. I am so in love with this idea. So glad I found you and am now off to follow you. If your other posts are even near this great, I’m going to love your blog!

I “pinned” your floor a few days ago! LOVE it. (I’m thinking of stenciling my kitchen walls in paisley so I found you in a search) and then TODAY I find you again on one of my FAV blogs! So I’m back again at Steve’s instruction! LOL!and I’m Following you now!:D – Cindi

I would love to do this to my kitchen, but I was wondering if you think that area has too much traffic…or does that really matter. My house is a small 100 year old Bungalow with a cottage feel….so the wear doesn’t bother me that much….as long as it doesn’t just fall apart.

Wow – what great timing!! I have been pondering and pondering what to do about my ugly carpet and my gross plywood sub floor. I have asked everyone at work for advice…and then I see this post! Fabulous!

YAY! YAY! YAY! I’m so excited I stumbled upon this at A2Z today. I am in the middle of this very project at my house for the very same reason – gross carpet out, cheap alternative in!! I’ve been researching this here and there for the past few months and this is by far THE BEST outcome I’ve seen!!! Thanks for the added inspiration to keep me going!

Thank you for the idea. I picked up the carpet in my son’s bedroom due to allergies and painted the floor to be able to clean the dust easier. I made the stencil and I had a really hard time keeping it clean. The paint was bleeding under the edges even though I used spray glue on the back of the stencil. The floor board is not perfectly smooth, it is a strip board and I didn’t want it to be perfectly smooth to prevent slipping. That might have been the problem.

This is so beautiful! Great job! I have a question for you. The sealer that you used is water-based and says not to use it on floors. How have you found it to hold up? Has it been a while since you did this floor? I’m just trying to figure out whether or not I could just get away with using the porch and floor paint and not sealing it…. not sure, though! Help!

Hmm – the sealer is water-based but is made for floors. It says so on the label. And it has held up really well – I am going to give an update in the next week or so. I wouldn’t recommend painting the floor and not sealing it. I did that with porch and floor paint on my screened porch and without the sealer, the floor gets dingy/dirty looking really quickly.

Thank you for the inspiration! We just tore out the carpet in our dining area, stairway and bedrooms. We just bought this home last December and the carpets were nasty! I just couldn’t take it anymore! My intention was the paint the sub-floor until we could afford the barn-board flooring we really want. Many websites try to deter us from painting, saying it will look worse than dingy carpets (not likely!). Your floor is absolutely gorgeous, and was happy to see your comment that the floors held up well! Thanks again for sharing!!

me and my husband painted our floors a couple of months ago…i was shocked how well it looks and lasts. we used some stuff to level the floor out- and you’re right- big mistake. it still looks great and i’m planning to do another area of the house. we used black in an interior eggshell with a sealer over it, and it has held up super great! yours our a lot more time consuming though- and it paid off. ours took us a few hours and then over night to dry…i get a ton of compliments.

What an amazing transformation! You absolutely did a great job! Your work is so much like that of a professional! The design choice is so good and the color is perfect as well. Thank you for sharing these steps because several homeowners will learn so much from this. Please keep on sharing!

We were inspired by your lovely floor and are beginning our own project. You mentioned filling the seams with a product you would not recommend. What would the alternative be? I can’t seem to see any seams in any of the flooring pictures I have viewed online, but, apparently, one must leave a small gap between sheets of plywood as they swell and shrink. Any input would be valuable! THANKS!

It takes a huge amount of skill and patience to have done that! I am amazed with your work. You painted it like a professional. An advice I could give is to do research about the materials you want to use and the surface you are using it on. Be prepared so that money and time will not go to waste! Thanks for sharing!

I happen to be in the middle of a low budget kitchen makeover, and I am GOING to do this.

Problem: I have lots of littles, and will need to set aside a full day, and get child care.

How long between coats of paint were you able to stencil, and then how long after to apply the sealer, aaannnnd then how long after that before you could move everything back into place and step on it?

When doing the border. You said to pull up the tape on the second coat, before it dries. This means the first/base coat that you paint right over the tape on is completely dry when you do the border coat and pull that one up while its still wet? I want to do the border in my room :)bneb2b@rocketmail.com

Upkeep is pretty easy – I just sweep and occasionally mop. The sealer keeps it shiny though I imagine after more time has passed, it may need to be resealed. The pattern makes the floor great at hiding dust.

This is the coolest project ever! We are building a house and I will be painting and sealing the concrete floors so that we can save to put bamboo in the entire house (2000sf = $$$$ yikes). I have this stencil. Paisley is my favorite. Check out my blog you will see it everywhere. I would really like to feature this post and your blog on my blog. Let me know what you think. Great job. Now I just have to convince my husband that this design will not look too busy. Thanks again for the great tutorial.

Please feel free to feature my floors and me as long as you link back! Painted concrete floors sound like a lot of fun – there are so many cool things you could do with them. As you can see I love paisley too though I haven’t used it a ton in my house since the floors alone make such a statement. Heading over to check out your blog now!

I have most of my kitchen floor in plain ply wood and this summer i will be trying to do this. How long does it take for the paint to dry because i have 5 small house dogs that are my children. I am going to do this i hope on a very hot day.

It takes several hours for the primer and each coat of paint to dry. You will have to check the directions on the floor sealer to see how long it has to dry – I can’t remember exactly. I think I let it dry twenty-four hours between coats for four coats to be safe. Maybe you could just block off that area while you are working on the floor? That is what I have to do when I paint things to keep my one year old out of the wet paint. :)

Hi Carrie,
This is the most amazing floor transformation and so ingenious! I wanted to let you know that I’ve featured this project (and your second tips post) on my website: http://www.DIYFunIdeas.com. It’s a hub for all kinds of fun & creative DIY ideas. The direct link to the featured post is: http://diyfunideas.com/how-to-paint-stencil-your-floors/.
Feel free to let your readers know you’ve been featured and thanks so much for your wonderful creativity!
~Jenise

Is it possible to make such a type of flooring at my home? I live in a flat, and all examples are shown only in house :)) And is it the same- Epoksidinės grindų dangos as you proposed? :) Thank you in advance for your answer :)

Gorgeous floor! I’m getting ready to paint & stencil my guest bedroom plywood floor. Did you use Zinsser Oil-based Primer/Sealer Cover Stain? It is not labeled for use on floors. I was wondering how it is holding up?

Ooh! I had seen the photo of your stenciled subfloor on Pinterest before, but I had no idea that you had made it when I commented on your stenciled bookcases. :) Wishing I had read your article before tackling our own stenciling project, now. =DYvonne @ Sunnyside Up-Stairs recently posted…Wood Louver Wainscoting

This is just beautiful! I am about to pull the trigger and do this to a house we are moving into in 2 weeks. My big question is how do you keep it clean? Mop it? We would be doing it in the kitchen and dining room. Would you recommend this? Thank you so much!!!

Sure Jo, the stenciling is pretty simple really. Just lay your stencil out starting in one corner of the room. Load up some paint on a small foam roller and roll off the excess on some paper towels. Then roll it over the stencil. Then pick up the stencil and move it to the next spot, making sure to line up the pattern. If you would like to see this in action, there are some great videos showing tips on stenciling at http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com

Yes, you put the stencil down, paint over it, and then carefully move it to the next area. There is more info about how to do this in this post: http://www.lovelyetc.com/2013/10/tips-painting-stenciling-floor/ Also, this should work on concrete – just make sure to read all labels and make sure your primer and paint are suitable for concrete.

OH my gosh – these are spectacular!!!
I ordered the paisley stencil for a floor I want to paint and then decided to google it to see if anyone else had ever attempted it – I’m completely blown away by this –
Far exceeds how beautiful I imagined it could be.
AND I was able to show my better half exactly what I meant ( he kept saying it was a ridiculous idea until I showed him this )
THANK YOU for sharing –
Beyond gorgeous – I’m pinning now!
Have a wonderful day
Hugs
xoxo

Your painted sub floor looks nice…. but plywood, (or OSB) sub floors are not meant to be lived on, that’s why it’s called a ‘sub’ floor. While carpeting, padding and laminates don’t add any strength, they do have cushioning and acoustic properties that add to the livability of a space, plus they help cushion any deflection that might be felt with only a sub floor in place.

A finished wood floor installation will add stiffness and acoustic properties that will make your space infinitely more comfortable and livable. That said, a ‘common’ grade of solid maple, or oak wood strip flooring could be installed somewhat economically and painted, if that was the desired finished look. Plus, you’d still have the option to sand and refinish it naturally, when you grow tired of the painted look. Natural wood never goes out of style and goes with everything.

Very true, but for us this was a great solution. This floor is not meant to be a permanent solution but a temporary fix. We have had these floors for two years and have not been bothered at all by lack of cushioning or acoustics. I certainly would not recommend this type of flooring long term, but it is infinitely better than the nasty carpet we had and incredibly more affordable than even the cheapest hardwoods.

also meant to add: the gaps at the ends of the sheets of plywood sub floor are there for a reason and is the approved method of installation. Filling them in with a floor patching compound is not a good idea.